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Looking for the Light
As Labor searches for its Light on the Hill at last a senior Labor figure has come out and said it: the main game for the ALP should not be about shedding union involvement but making the movement – and that involvement - stronger.
Interview: Packing a Punch
Former Hawke and Keating Minister Gary Punch injects some sanity into the debate over unions and the ALP
Bad Boss: Basher Takes Back Passage
A new contender for our Bad Boss has emerged as 140 Stegbar workers confront a boofhead with bad attitude, writes Jim Marr
Unions: Five Star Shafting
What is twenty three years of unbroken, fulltime service worth? Eight weeks, according to Tony Abbott, the Federal Government and the cheapskates who run Sydney’s posh Hilton Hotel.
Economics: TINA – Rest In Peace
Sydney University’s Frank Stilwell argues that the ‘There is No Alternative’ school of economics should be consigned to the dustbin of history
International: Against Bush's "War on Terrorism"
Washington has become the first State Labor Council in the U.S. to call on the AFL-CIO to seek repeal of the USA Patriot Act and oppose the Bush Administration, reports Fred Hyde.
Environment: Saving the World
After a ten-day talkfest, are we any closer to saving the world, asks Nick Lucchinelli
History: A Radical Scribe
John Shields loks at the life of Lloyd Ross' brother, Edgar, and his work as a journalist and activist in Broken Hill
Poetry: With A Little Help From My Friend
Even oil giant BP Australasia came out and supported the Kyoto Protocol - but that was not enough for our beloved Prime Minister.
Satire: Colonel Gaddafi Promotes Himself to General
After years of ribbing by his Axis of Evil peers, General Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan, Ayatollah Khamenei of Iran and General Than Shwe of Burma, Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi has finally promoted himself to General.
Review: Workplace Dictatorship
Award-winning journalist Barbara Ehrenreich went undercover in low-wage America to see how people live on six bucks an hour. And what did she find? They can’t.
Cole Comfort: I’m Not Biased
Grassroots Drives Safety Campaign
Deloittes Curry Favour on Sub-Continent
Ansett Workers Short-Changed
Rail Workers Buck Individual Contract Wage Bribe
Carr to Drive Hilton Deal?
Bush Regenerators Weed Out Dodgy Deal
Insurers in Redfern Rort
Hairdresser Wins Fight For Wage Justice
Cabin Crews Argue for ‘Safety in Numbers’
‘Slave Labour’ In Insurance Industry
Westie Fires Up Over Durries
Beattie Plods into Risky Territory
Sydney to Host Social Forum
Activists Notebook
The Soapbox
Ian West on Suncorp Metway
NSW MLC Ian West lifts the lid on moves to impose 'start before you start' clauses in the insurance industry The Locker Room
Terrible Terry and the Nice Guy from Fitzroy
As the debate over the new coach hots up, Phil Doyle believes that all is not as it seems on the good ship Swan. Week in Review
War on Terror
Next Wednesday, September 11, marks the anniversary of one of the most brutal acts of terrorism in modern history. Jim Marr’s picking it will pass by virtually un-noticed Bosswatch
Broken Trust
The corporate world is holding back the waves of accountability with a crackdown on trusts rubbished and resistance to a new plan to increase corporate disclosure. Women
All In the Family?
Labor Council’s Alison Peters went looking for a family friendly workplace and got caught in a cheesy smokescreen.
Collex Decision is Terrible
Charity Begins At Home
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Labor Council of NSW
Vic Trades Hall Council
IT Workers Alliance
Bosswatch
Unions on LaborNET
Evatt Foundation
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News
‘Slave Labour’ In Insurance Industry
Revelations that insurance workers are being forced to turn up to work 30 minutes before they begin being paid have been raised in the NSW Parliament.
NSW MLC Ian West this week accused Suncorp-Medway, the new owners of the GIO, of a swathe of anti-worker practices including forcing workers to put in up to two and a half hours in unpaid overtime every week.
With 2000 employees this arrangement delivers Suncorp Medway an extra 5000 unpaid hours per week or 260,000 hours per year.
NSW FSU state secretary Geoff Derrick has called on Federal Workplace Relations Minister Tony Abbott to urgently move to prohibit the practice.
"This is a form of slave labour," Derrick says. "Workers are being asked to give over their labour for nothing."
"Instead of proposing laws that make it harder for workers to stand up for themselves, Mr Abbott should be clamping down on this sort of bullying behaviour by employers."
Suncorp-Medway is currently attempting to induce GIO workers to accept Suncorp conditions, enshrined in an agreement negotiated by a 'boss's union' funded by the company. The GIO workers are being offered $250 in shares to give up their current union-negotiated conditions.
Ian West, MLC, told State Parliament the Suncorp-Metway agreement includes:
- the 'start before you start' clause
- forces staff to work weekend shifts
- and abolishes overtime rates of pay
Derrick says it's unconscionable to be attempting to bribe staff to give up their conditions.
"I'm confident that when GIO workers look at the conditions they are being offered, they will stay on their current union-endorsed agreement" Derrick says.
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Issue 151 contents
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